d'aptitude pour la musique_;" we agree that the remainder of the
sentence, "_Ceux-ci le savent et ne s'en soucient guère_," is altogether
inapplicable now, however true it might have been when the lively
Jean-Jacques framed the sentence. Our ambition has been roused, or our
vanity has been piqued, and we are now pretty much in the same condition
with the French, when it was said of them, that they "would renounce a
thousand just rights, and pass condemnation on all other things, rather
than allow that they are not the first musicians of the world." This is
one of the signs of the times, and we hail it as a symptom of better
things.

In the metropolis, music has advanced with far greater rapidity than in
the provinces. This appears the natural and inevitable result of causes
to which we have already alluded. Ten or fifteen years ago, the
street-music of London consisted of such tunes as Tom and Jerry--an
especial favourite--the Copenhagen Waltz, and other _melodies_ of the
same class. Now we have instruments imitating a full orchestra, which
execute elaborate overtures in addition to the best airs of the first
masters of Europe. The better the music the greater the attraction, even
in the streets of London; and the people may be seen daily to crowd
around these instruments, and to listen with attention to Italian and
German melodies. We have, of late, repeatedly heard the juvenile
unwashed, whistling airs learned from these instruments, which, however
humble, thus appear to influence the taste of the poorer classes. During
several weeks of the present year, operas in an English dress were
simultaneously performed at three of our theatres. The very gods in the
galleries now look benignly down upon the Italian strangers, which--to
use a theatrical phrase--draw better houses than any other performances
would command.